Is a firearm a useful tool in a knife attack? Absolutely…once you can get it into the fight! This rabbi was on site to deliver Hanukkah presents to these soldiers, and thank God that he was not only armed, he had his Active Self Protection covered.

This video is sponsored by CCWSafe, who I use to help me win the fight after the fight: https://get-asp.com/ccwsafe. I am a member and I recommend them highly; please go check them out and thank them for being a sponsor of our daily lessons!

The fact that the defender was a rabbi isn’t in the news stories; ASP fan Moshe sent me the details. Here’s the story from him: in light of the recent spate of terrorism, a local rabbi offered to buy a firearm for any rabbi who wanted to get his carry license, and the rabbi in the video took him up on the offer a few days before. I am sure he was glad he did, and that soldier sure is!

How do I survive a knife attack?

Empty-handed skills are absolutely critical for self-defenders. First of all, more conflicts you will encounter as a self-defender will require empty-handed skills than will require firearms skills, simply because more self-defense encounters are physical than deadly. Second, since a firearm is a tool of last resort, self-defenders need to have non-lethal options that include empty-handed skills to protect themselves from likely incidents. Third, in the moment of a knife attack you likely will not have the time to get to your gun before you can fight your way to it.

Everyone likes to say, “Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight.” But it’s equally true that you can’t bring a GUN to a knife fight! This knife attack shows that you have to win the knife fight before your firearm can come into play effectively. Trying to draw a firearm when someone is stabbing you with a knife is a great way to die, so work on your empty-handed skills to win the fight you’re in so that you can earn the right to draw your firearm and end the fight. This knife attack also shows that if you have distance (like the rabbi does), you’re in a gunfight, not a knife fight.

The goal in any defensive firearms use is to stop the threat. The threat here was from a knife attack, and once they put him down the threat ended. Good work stopping the threat! Never draw a firearm if you’re not willing to use it, but if the presence of the firearm stops the threat, don’t pull the trigger! If the bad guy flees or surrenders, that’s a very successful defensive firearm use and you’ve met the goal. If the first and second shot stops the threat, then it’s time to stop shooting and take follow up action. In this knife attack it took EIGHT SHOTS to stop the threat, and so the rabbi kept firing. That’s how you do it. Shoot until the threat ends.

The human body is designed to take a ridiculous amount of punishment and still function. You can shoot someone multiple times and they can still pose a deadly threat! Even mortally wounded people can continue to pose a threat for several seconds to even minutes after being shot, so don’t think for a moment that shooting someone will necessarily immediately incapacitate them. That is Hollywood myth. This knife attack went on for six seconds after the first shot was fired. SIX SECONDS. That’s an eternity.

First aid skills are important. If you’re going to train and prepare to take a life to defend yourself, you should also have skills, training, and equipment to save life should you need to. (I carry an individual first aid kit at a minimum) Often that will not involve defensive encounters, and in a defensive encounter your primary responsibility is to yourself and your loved ones. I wouldn’t be worried about the terrorist in this knife attack, but both the soldier and the guy who helped him needed medical attention right away. Learn first aid skills!

You must know the range of your force multiplier and the range of various force multipliers that might be used against you. Knives are short-range, fast moving force multipliers. Firearms are extremely long-range, fast moving force multipliers. If you have a gun facing a knife attack, stay at distance! The rabbi closed distance to be able to take better shots, but he kept out of range of a knife attack and that was wise. Know your force multiplier and use its advantages and minimize its disadvantages.